![]() ![]() ![]() The road approach to this bridge was shrinking with each turn, with weight limits reducing from 9t to 7.5t to 3.5t, and when we hit 1km to go we were suddenly informed the bridge was only 2m wide. ![]() We followed a few nominal deviation signs, but they soon disappeared so we headed to the next bridge along, about 20km away. With only one minute left, so we thought, we were suddenly hit with route barr ée signs on the only bridge across the Dordogne into Carennac. We left Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne thinking we had a twenty minute drive to visit Carennac. Having decided we’d seen enough, we purchased a baguette and returned to Benny to continue our way of gentle discovery, but it was about to all unravel into a long and rather frustrating trek. We found a tourist office but it was shut, as is generally the case at this time of year. ![]() All the buildings were built from a cold white stone that was set off nicely by the myriad of varied colours on window shutters. Tall residential properties lined two sides of this main square, with wildly steep gardens set behind them. We crossed over to a large square where quite harshly pollarded trees provided the main focal point, with lots of busy commerce around. Through tiny alleys we reached the large church with tall bell-tower, set in a trafficked square, with various timber-fronted shops set around the edges.įrom here we wandered through more winding passages to reach the more modern side of town, where the roads were suddenly full of cars, people and noise. The huge, delightful property was listed for sale, but we didn’t enquire – no Benny parking. The next open space was at a large five-storey Renaissance house, decorated with caricatured statues of scenes from the Garden of Eden. We passed an old well set on a cobbled street, where we could easily visualise the grime and noise of carts and horses rolling through in times past. It was yet another slightly shabby but rather beautiful village. We followed the banks in the direction of the village, walking through a stone archway under a bridge to reach the tight medieval centre. There was a curious salmon-fishing or capture-and-storage point built into the side of the bridge, trapping them as they navigated the river. It was a dreary, cold day, with little colour or light. A short distance from the aire we saw a bustling trade fair was underway and watched as unimpressed cows were bought and reluctantly loaded into trucks, with three men desperately pushing, pulling and otherwise bullying them. We parked easily in the town’s spacious aire down by the river, conveniently payable overnight but not during daylight hours. The next we planned to go and see, only a few miles away, was Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne. If you're visiting, don't go direct to the site - get your tickets in town first.Moving on from overnighting in the Domaine de Chirac’s farm, we continued with our now familiar theme of visiting beautiful French villages. There's an aire in Montignac, which is where you have to book tickets at the tourist office for the Lascaux II cave art reconstruction just up the road. The rural life museum nearby is worth a look. The aire in the park at Le Bugue is a bit different - literally in the town park among trees, very pleasant. We've also stopped at the Perigueux aire but didn't stay overnight as we'd exhausted the town's possibilities in an afternoon. Sarlat le Caneda has a smallish tarmac aire at the top end of the town which is handy for a stopover but near a road.Īt Saint Cyprien there's a tiny aire in what is basically a municipal car park - there are nicer ones elsewhere. Decent sized grassy plots rather than gravel or tarmac, near the Vezere river. Les Eyzies de Tayac Sirieul has one of our favourite aires, mainly because of all the surrounding prehistory. I'm pretty certain you can overnight in the car park behind the chateau at Castelnaud la Chapelle. La Roque-Gageac aire is literally a stone's throw from the river itself.īeynac et Cazenac just down the road has a MH tolerant overnight parking area a little way up the hill from the main street, and an interesting chateau. ![]()
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